Falling in Love : I love you, Today and Forever
Chapter 806: Aria’s warning

Chapter 806: Aria’s warning

"Aria, can we talk?" Joshua, for the first time in weeks, mustered his courage and approached Aria, who was sitting quietly beside her sister. It had taken all the guts in him to prepare his mind and ask her, and he was dying out of nervousness as he waited for her response.

Aria glanced at her sister, who was deep asleep, and then at her father, who was looking at something on his phone. Even though she didn’t want to talk to Joshua, she still decided to give him a chance and see what he had in mind.

The duo walked out of the ward and stood by the window. There was no one on the floor, no one but the guards Noah had stationed to protect Ivy. So, they didn’t have to worry about being eavesdropped by someone.

While Joshua hesitated, Aria looked at him frigidly. Their relationship had become awkward since the mishap, more than their relationship had become non-existent since that day. The moment he broke up with Ivy, hurting her deeply for no reason, their friendship was done as well, and there was no reason for her to pretend and force herself to be cordial around him.

"What do you have to say?" Aria’s tone was impassive. She gave him a nonchalant look while she waited for him to start speaking.

"Aria..." Joshua licked his lips, and finally, raised his head to meet her gaze. "I’m sorry."

Only Joshua knew how much strength it had taken him to speak those words. Since the day he had hurt Ivy, the guilt was gnawing on him. He was not just Ivy’s culprit; he was Aria’s and Oliver’s culprit as well. By breaking Ivy’s heart, he hurt them as well. He was ashamed of himself, and in shame, he couldn’t bring himself to face anyone, especially the West family.

"And why are you sorry? What did you do?" Aria questioned as if he had no reason to be sorry. Her tone only made him all the more ashamed, and it became hard for him to maintain his eyes on her.

"Aria, I know I have no right to ask for forgiveness after what I did. But I still wish to apologize to you. I hurt Ivy deeply by breaking up with her, for which I’ll forever be regretful, and by hurting her, I hurt you and Mr. West as well." Joshua’s face was filled with despair, and if it was the previous Aria, she’d have forgiven him in an instant.

But she was not the old Aria, and neither did Joshua deserve her forgiveness. He chose himself over Ivy and showed everyone his true thoughts. That alone was enough for her to maintain her stance.

"You’re wrong over there." Aria stopped him before he could go on, and Joshua closed his lips immediately as he stared at her, puzzled.

"You didn’t hurt Ivy by breaking up with her. If the relationship was not meant to be, you two would have broken up in the future as well." Joshua shook his head in denial, which Aria ignored. His opinions didn’t matter at all.

"You hurt Ivy by not trusting her," Aria remarked, and that shut Joshua up. "You didn’t trust the love she had for you. You didn’t trust your relationship with her. And lastly, you didn’t trust Ivy at all. I think you never trusted Ivy at all. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been fooled by someone who should have been insignificant to you."

"Amber is insignificant to me, Aria."

"Yet, you chose to believe her words more than my sister." Aria shot up, forcing Joshua to swallow his words. "I understand that you were once hurt by her, deeply, and you’re scared to face the same pain again. I get it. I really do. But in trying to protect yourself from the pain, didn’t you put Ivy through the same pain?"

Joshua’s expression was altered between self-loathing and guilt, and he lowered his eyes immediately. He couldn’t bring himself to face her, not anymore. All his guts had vanished, and he was left with nothing but shame and self-blame.

"I don’t know why you broke up with Ivy. But you made your choice, and there is no use apologizing to me. She is the one you should be speaking to and apologizing to."

Joshua’s head shot up instantly, and he looked at her in surprise.

"Does that mean..."

"No." Aria answered him before he even completed his question. "My opinions are not important here. Ivy makes all the decisions. If she intends to continue being with you, that’s her choice. If she wishes to end things with you for good, that’s her choice as well. I’ll not interfere in these matters, neither will Dad. But I’ll not deny that you owe her an apology."

"Aria..."

"You know..." Aria smiled suddenly. But that smile was filled with sadness, and she had to avert her gaze away from him to hide her tears.

"I don’t know the pain she’s going through. She is not just wounded physically; she is hurt mentally and emotionally as well. Physical wounds will heal over time. But not the others. They can be deathly, after all, they were caused by someone she had once loved, or maybe she does even now. I don’t know."

"Aria..." Joshua didn’t know what else to say as he stared at Aria, who was trying hard to hold back her tears.

"Sometimes, I feel that you should stop. You should stop everything and leave Ivy. She wouldn’t accept you whatsoever after what happened. Maybe she wouldn’t accept anyone else either. But sometimes I feel..."

Aria stopped suddenly, and Joshua’s eyes lit up with hope.

"What do you feel, Aria? Please tell me what you feel." He begged, hoping that her words were exactly what he wanted to hear. He wanted someone to assure him that there was still hope. Even if the chances were almost negligible, he wanted to know that he still had a chance.

Aria sucked in a deep breath as she returned her gaze to Joshua, who was staring at her expectantly. "Sometimes, I feel your sincerity towards Ivy. I don’t know if it’s all a facade or not. I just feel that maybe you do love her."

"I do, Aria. I really love her. I love her so much that it fucking kills me to see her in pain. I’m willing to die a hundred times just to take away all her pain. I love her more than anything or anyone in this world, including myself." Joshua stated with such conviction that Aria was rendered speechless for a moment.

She looked at him for some time as his thoughts started to settle before she made a decision. "If you really do love her as you say you do, then don’t ever give up on her."

Joshua shook his head immediately. He had given up on Ivy once, and he almost lost her. Never again. She was the one person he was unwilling to lose ever.

"It’s secondary if she’s willing to allow you back into her life. But if you give up just because she isn’t willing, then I seriously doubt your love for her." Aria snorted, and Joshua shook his head again.

"I won’t. It will never happen again. I

promise."

"Keep your promise to yourself. It has no meaning if you break them."

Joshua knew that Aria didn’t trust him, and he didn’t expect her to either. Not this soon.

"I don’t know if I’m doing this right or wrong," Aria mumbled as she closed her eyes for a few seconds while Joshua waited.

"I’ll not interfere in your matters with Ivy. She holds the reins, and she’ll decide everything. But I’ll not stop you as well if you wish to be with her and pursue her all over again."

"Thank you, Aria. Thank you so much." Joshua couldn’t control his joy, and he stepped forward with his arms stretched. But Aria took a step back, compelling him to stop immediately.

"Just don’t make me regret this. If you hurt Ivy one more time, then I’ll damn well make sure to render you incapable of doing anything, and I mean it." Aria wasn’t merely threatening him. She actually meant it, and Joshua nodded his head fervently.

Joshua didn’t need to be threatened at all. He wouldn’t forgive himself ever if he hurt Ivy one more time, not that he was able to forgive this time as well.

"You better remember it," Aria warned before she walked away while Joshua watched her back.

Instead of going to the ward her sister was in, she walked towards the corridor where Noah was. "How long are you going to hide here?"

"I didn’t want to intrude on you guys. I’m sorry." Noah looked at her apologetically.

"It’s fine. We weren’t having a personal conversation." Aria dismissed his apology with a shake of her head.

Silence fell over them for a few seconds. While Noah stared at the woman before him, Aria was lost in thoughts.

"What are you thinking?"

"Do you think I did the right thing?"

"Why are you asking me this? Don’t you know the answer yourself?" Noah didn’t reply to her. Instead, he hinted to her to listen to her heart.

"I’m just worried about Ivy, Noah."

"I’m sure Ivy knows what she wants, Aria. Leave everything to her. We can always intervene if things go out of hand."

"But..."

"Aria," Noah cupped her cheeks and looked at her with a soft smile on his face. "Trust your sister. She is just injured, not broken. She is strong enough to handle her matters well, and I’m sure whatever she decides will not be done on a whim."

Aria let out a sigh she had been holding in for a long time. "You’re right. I’ll leave everything to Ivy. It’s her life after all."